- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
Liz342
member
What do you do when LO doesn't eat what you gave them?
Liz342
member
I posted this on 24+ and was kind of surprised at some of the responses so I'm curious what those with younger LOs do.
DD eats what we eat for meals 90% of the time. If I give her something I know she likes, a lot of the time she just won't eat it. She's really picky and only seems to eat when really hungry. If she doesn't eat what I gave her I will make something easy like a pb and j, grilled cheese or a bowl of cereal.
I asked on 24+ at what age they started to be done with the meal if LO didn't eat (ie- they don't give them a second option to eat). Most of the responses were that they always made their LO eat what was given to them and some of them offered that item as a snack later if it wasn't eaten. I think this is a good practice for older toddlers who have an understanding of this but I am surprised that they did it when their LOs were so young.
I usually try to get DD to eat what we're having and if she just doesn't eat anything I will just give her something I KNOW she will eat. Maybe this is different for me since my LO eats so little and is so tiny, because I am just desperate for her to eat.
Do you do what I have been doing or do you let your LO get down from their highchair without eating if they didn't eat what you gave them first?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: What do you do when LO doesn't eat what you gave them?
This is 12-24.
If DS doesn't eat what I offer, I offer him one more thing I know he will eat and if he refuses that as well, then he's done.
I'm curious why you're asking 12-24, but anyways my LO is only 17 months so he getss something else if he doesn't eat what we give him. It's usually a healthy go-to and/or a pureed veggie. He almost always eats enough of what we give him, even if it's only parts of the dinner, so it's usually not much of a big issue. Sometimes if he doesn't eat a good dinner or eat much at dinner we'll give him a banana before bed. He gets a sippy of toddler formula before bed every night so we're not that concerned if he doesn't eat every single bit of his dinner.
it depends on the kid, honestly.
Chardonnay has growth restriction issues, so I don't let her skip meals. If she doesn't want what we're having, she gets a PBJ. If Riesling doesn't eat what he's offered (he doesn't have growth issues), he doesn't eat.
DH, Char and I have had a discussion about it, and we remind her periodically that we won't make her special meals anymore once she turns 3. Then it's either eat what she's given or don't eat.
i guess i'm a little different b/c of my LO's allergies. I sometimes offer 3 or 4 different things just so he could eat. it's so hard to feed my LO b/c he's allergic to Milk/Soy/Sesame/peanuts/tomato/apples.. So if he doesn't eat what i offer at first, i quickly try for something else, and i usually keep trying until he east something.
If he didn't have allergies i would probably just offer one more thing if he didn't want the original dish and that's it.
cause there's totes no one here who could answer her question.
Same here.
This...I usually give her everything at once or will start with something I know she might not like as well so at least she will taste and eat some rather than just eating what she really likes (ie bananas and green bean lol). For instance, last night I gave her turkey sausage, steamed squash, and bowtie veggie pasta noodles--which was a simple version of what we were having for dinner. Then after she ate some I added bananas for "desert". She also had milk after dinner. She did not like the turkey sausage at all but I did not give her anything to "replace" that option.
I agree that there is no reason to get in a habit of giving your LO "alternative meals" unless there are growth issues or something else going on. My friend did this constantly with her DS and now she has a 4 year old that refuses to eat ANYTHING but mac and cheese, PB and J, chicken nuggets, and cheezits. Its terrible but I think she got herself in the situation by making him used to getting his favorites everytime he didn't like something. She is trying to work with him on eating new things now but its a tough road with a stubborn 4 year old.
this is what we do too - usually meat, grain, veggie & fruit...and there is almost always something on there (fruit) that I know they will eat...but I am blessed with good eaters (knock on wood) and they almost always eat whatever we give them...
this is what we do too - usually meat, grain, veggie & fruit...and there is almost always something on there (fruit) that I know they will eat...but I am blessed with good eaters (knock on wood) and they almost always eat whatever we give them...
This is exactly what we do. If he won't eat something new I assume he doesn't like it. If he won't eat something I know he loves then I assume he's not hungry and offer a snack later.
Until they were about 18m, if they completely refused their meal (which usually only happened at dinner), we would offer them oatmeal and/or yogurt. That was their one other option. Starting around 18-19m, they pretty much just get the one option. There have been a couple times they refuse it at first but then eat it later. And a handful of times when they ended up going to bed without eating (or they'd drink their milk), but they really just didn't seem hungry. I do think in some ways you have to be stricter with two the same age b/c of the way they influence each other. Plus if they had their way, they'd eat nothing but cookies and goldfish all the time. :P I find this encourages a more balanced diet.
Overall though it has worked well. They are healthy and growing well. They are both somewhat slim for height but not bad (e.g. Alex is about 70th for height and 45th for weight) but that's typical for babies on my side of the family. Obviously if they had weight gain issues I'd do things differently, and there are times when we'll make exceptions (e.g. when they're sick), but this has seemed to work pretty well for us.
ETA: We also do what a lot of other people do, in that there are 3-4 different foods on their plate at each meal, so usually they'll chow down on at least 1-2 of them.
He gets a variety of foods at each meal- he gets to pick at everything we have as long as it's safe for him to eat. He is a sucker for pureed green beans, so we keep those on hand for him just in case he won't eat whatever vegetable we're eating. When he won't eat much, we just offer more of the one or two things he was willing to try until he starts throwing food to the dogs (that means he's done). We don't really make extra food for him if he won't eat what we have, but we do try to include something we know he likes at each meal (chicken, spaghetti, cooked carrots, potatoes, etc).